Fort Wayne - New Haven Computer Repair, Service and Support. Grantham Computer Consulting

Shane, Can you get Microsoft Vista and Ubuntu Linux installed on the same computer?

shane — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 00:11:34 +0000

I had a new client who wanted both Vista and Ubuntu installed in a dual-boot configuration this week. It can be done and I’ve had several computers over the years have dual and triple boot configurations. I first install the Microsoft Vista OS from the DVD and set it up so everything in it works. You can use half the hard drive or the entire thing. Then I boot with my Ubuntu 10.10 CD and choose Install and not “Try”. Then I select advanced options and size the existing NTFS partition so the Linux partition fits. You also have to set a Linux mount point for root, /. then let it install and follow the prompts. It automatically selects the swap partition for you. It’s much easier than it used to be to setup Linux. The Ubuntu distros are nice because you can try it out by booting with the CD and see if all your hardware is recognized and works. Then if you like it. install it.

Should your phone number be on your Social Media Sites?

shane — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 03:00:31 +0000

When I am asked or I need a phone number for someone I often use LinkedIn or FaceBook if they are not in my contacts or my phone. Half the time the phone number is missing from the person’s information and I feel this is interferes with others contacting them. So I encourage you to list your phone number on your Social Media sites.

The Internet isn’t working

shane — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:05:41 +0000

I had a service call not too long where I was installing a Uniterruptable Power Supply for a client. They mentioned that the internet was down. I checked some things on the computer and they were correct- the internet is down. I looked at their DSL modem and the LEDs didn’t look right. I turned it off for a minute and back on. Problem solved. I made sure and show the owners what I did and how to solve it next time this happens.

Linked In – why are you misunderstood?

shane — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:31:06 +0000

As I meet new networkers every week I always bring up the business-centric social media site, Linked In(linkedin.com). I find most people have a Facebook account but not a Linked In account. Or if they do have Linked In, don’t know what to do with it. I was the same way 5 years ago when I was invited and finally joined. I didn’t use it for a year or two until I heard from networkers like Shirona Gunawardhana, how great a tool it is. Now It’s my main social media site I use several times a day to find a phone number, web site, email address, and post articles. I promote my clients, networking groups and myself on it. Other things I do are find past clients, co-workers, friends, bosses, and networkers. LI has a great search engine which allows you to search by company, name, industry, location, school and many other criteria. I once located someone just by first name and a partial company name. I like to recommend people on it, something some people don’t realize is possible. Also, investigate the professional groups for your industry you can join. I learn new things each week from the many computer groups.

Shane, I can’t print! Help

shane — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 17:58:17 +0000

Recently, I got a call from a business who couldn’t print from their Office PC to their printer. I was going to connect remotely and troubleshoot the issue. I got interrrupted and forgot about it. When I was on the road I realized I had forgotten and called them back. I said I will just stop by since I was within a few miles of their location. Upon arrival, I checked the status of the printer in printers and devices and it was off-line. I tried putting it back on-line and it reverted back to off-line. I checked the port and it was set to USB. looked at some other settings and didn’t see anything wrong. Now to look at the printer; it had paper, was turned on, the lights were on. I looked in the back and the USB cable was disconnected. Once attached, print jobs started printing.

Thanks to Andrew Zelt

shane — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 03:14:03 +0000

I ran into an old networking friend today at our Barter Lunch, Andrew Zelt. Andrew does web design and has helped me over the years on my web site. He gave me directions for adding a calendar for networking groups on my site. Look under Networking on my site for the calendar. It’s not finished but I have a good start on it.

Microsoft Outlook Express problems

shane — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 21:21:40 +0000

Some of my computer clients have had Outlook Express problems over the years. Outlook Express is Microsoft”s free email client for Windows XP, 2000, ME and 98. It came with those operating systems. They would lose messages, have slow response times and just general chaos with outlook express. I have found that the larger the data files (*.pbx), the more apt a user was to have problems. One corrupt message can wreak havoc on all your mail. Each folder (Inbox, outbox, Sent, deleted, extc.) has it’s own .pbx folder. Keep your outlook express mail cleaned out and don’t let thousands of messages pile up. If you need to keep a message, save to a file for safe keeping and don’t rely on your outlook express to hold it forever. Additionally, you can create folders within Outlook Express for saving your messages. Also, backup your mail by archiving from the file menu to another file. Microsoft did away with Outlook Express and with Vista introduced Windows Live Mail and continued it in Windows 7.

When’s the last time you changed your computer’s oil or checked the level?

shane — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 00:41:42 +0000

I changed my car’s oil and oil filter today. I do it approximately every three months to keep engine in great shape. I was trying to find a computer analogy to oil changes for tonight’s article. A computer has some things which need monitored on a periodic basis. First and most important is ensuring the security protection (anti-virus) is current and up to date. Another thing to check if the operating system has the latest patches and updates. The third thing you can check if any unused programs are still installed and using resources like hard drive space and RAM. You can access this through the control panel on windows computers and through Ubuntu Software Center for Linux Ubuntu.

Hey, your anti-virus program has expired and isn’t protecting you.

shane — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:08:48 +0000

Back in 2007 I had a client who shouldn’t have been using a computer but had to due to his work requirements. I suggested he get an assistant to work with him, but he never listened and continued on his own on his computer. No matter what I said or how how said it, he failed to get the message. He kept getting his Windows computer infected because he didn’t understand that the warnings from the security program I installed needed to be heeded. He let it expire without telling me and after months of no protection, it got some nasty rogue programs and viruses. I reviewed one of his invoices and realized one of them had 8 hours on it of virus fighting and removal and repair. I was going to wipe and reload Windows but he had no idea where is operating system CDs or his program CDs were. So I had to keep the PC as it was. System Restore didn’t work because one of the viruses disabled all the administrative tools. If this kind of thing happened today, I have many more and diverse tools to disinfect a windows PC. So the moral of the story is it’s much easier to prevent than to disinfect.

My old video card doesn’t work in Windows 7

shane — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:36:17 +0000

I was working out at Spiece Fitness last week when someone asked me about a video card he had in an older desktop computer and he couldn’t get Windows 7 to recognize it. He was confused because it was an expensive video card which previously worked in Windows XP without any problems. I didn’t have the computer in front of me so I had to speculate what was happening. My guess was that no video driver existed for the video card because the video card company hadn’t written one for Windows 7. The card was old enough that Microsoft hadn’t written one either for Windows 7 and the best thing to do was search the video card companies web site for a driver and to send their tech support a message to see if one had been written. This happened to a client of mine when vista came out and they hated it and wanted to use Windows XP on their new vista laptop. I removed Vista and installed XP, but there were no audi, video, or network card drivers for the laptop hardware for XP. The laptop was new enough that older XP drivers didn’t exist.